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[Strauss, Richard. (1864–1949)] Hammerstein, Oscar (I). (1847-1919) Autograph Letter Signed about the first American Presentations of Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra
[Strauss, Richard. (1864–1949)] Hammerstein, Oscar (I). (1847-1919) Autograph Letter Signed about the first American Presentations of Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra
[Strauss, Richard. (1864–1949)] Hammerstein, Oscar (I). (1847-1919) Autograph Letter Signed about the first American Presentations of Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra
[Strauss, Richard. (1864–1949)] Hammerstein, Oscar (I). (1847-1919) Autograph Letter Signed about the first American Presentations of Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra
[Strauss, Richard. (1864–1949)] Hammerstein, Oscar (I). (1847-1919) Autograph Letter Signed about the first American Presentations of Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra
[Strauss, Richard. (1864–1949)] Hammerstein, Oscar (I). (1847-1919) Autograph Letter Signed about the first American Presentations of Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra
[Strauss, Richard. (1864–1949)] Hammerstein, Oscar (I). (1847-1919). Autograph Letter Signed about the first American Presentations of Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra. An important autograph letter with candid revelations about the business practices of the legendary German-born businessman and theater impresario to the German impresario Norbert Salter. In German. [New York,] October 29, [1908]. 3 pp. on recto pages of three sheets of Manhattan Opera House stationery. All three leaves punched for binding, else fine. Translated in full: 

"Well, Mr. Salter – During my sojourn in Berlin I promised you preferred treatment in my business affairs. The opportunity has arrived; listen.  I purchased the rights to performances of Strauss's Salome in America. That was last April. Adolph Fuerstner, who unfortunately has died since, and Richard Strauss himself concluded the agreement. I was promised that I would be the only one who would revive Salome after the fiasco at the Metropolitan Opera House here, [and] that I would receive the right to the first performance of Strauss's new opera Elektra once it would become commercially available. Yesterday I received a letter from Mr. [Otto] Fuerstner, with an invoice about 43.80 marks for expenses, shipping [?], etc. for the Salome performing materials and also the pledge that once the company (Fuerstner) would be in the position to negotiate with me about Elektra, I would be notified of it. This message is lackluster; even foul – I don't want to sin. I know that the direction of the Metropolitan Opera House is also in negotiations with the British because of Elektra. Mr. Dippel proposed me today that we should make a deal about this opera and not extend any offers to Strauss until he would be ready to accept a low price and in this case, we should share the opera in performance, the Met in German and I in French. This is completely out of question for me. Either I have the exclusive performing rights, or I have no rights at all. Now to the point. Enclosed you find a money order of 43.80 marks for Adolph Fuerstner to pay for the Salome expenses. You will also find a letter to Fuerstner in which I recommend you as my representative. You take these to Fuerstner. You see to it that they like you; that is second nature to you. Then you become a pest. You will not let go until you get Elektra for me. Once you have achieved something definitive, send me a telegram, all at my expense. For Salome alone I shall pay Strauss and Fuerstner 500 dollars per performance. Ten performances shall be guaranteed for the season. I shall have the right to renew the agreement at the same terms and conditions every year.  If I can achieve the same terms and conditions for Elektra, I will be ready to pay more if it must be. With Elektra, I want to give poison to the Met. Done. I do not have to write anything else to a man like you, who is determined and diplomatic. Yours truly Oscar Hammerstein"

The passion for opera of the German-born businessman, theater impresario, and composer Oscar Hammerstein led him to open several opera houses, including the Manhattan Opera Company, and he rekindled opera's popularity in America. He was the grandfather of American playwright/lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II and the father of theater manager William Hammerstein and American producer Arthur Hammerstein.  The Manhattan Opera Company was based in New York City and active from 1906 until 1910.  Norbert Salter (1868-1935), born in Hamburg and later active in Berlin, was a cellist turned music manager. Adolph Fürstner (1833-1908) and his son Otto Fürstner (1886-1958) published Strauss's operas from Feuersnot (1901) to Arabella (1933); as the Fürstners were Jewish, Strauss was no longer allowed to collaborate with their company thereafter. Andreas Dippel (1866-1932), German-born tenor, was manager of the Met jointly with Giulio Gatti-Casazza from 1908 to 1910. 

"No opera premiere in Met history has created a scandal to equal the one that greeted Richard Strauss’s Salome on January 22, 1907, the "fiasco" referenced in the present letter. Terms such as “moral stench,” “degeneracy,” and “operatic offal” filled news accounts of the Salome premiere and five days after the premiere, a board resolution sent to Heinrich Conried, the Met’s general manager from 1903 to 1908, advised him that Salome was “objectionable, and detrimental to the best interests of the Metropolitan Opera House.” Some negotiations followed, but, in the end, performances of Salome were banned from the Met. For the next 27 years, Salome remained in exile from the Met, though Hammerstein's (and Salter's) efforts to obtain the performing rights for both Salome and Elektra were successful and both operas were performed at the Manhattan Opera House in 1909. Salome was performed in French, with soprano Mary Garden, who specialized in playing seductresses, in the lead role.



[Strauss, Richard. (1864–1949)] Hammerstein, Oscar (I). (1847-1919) Autograph Letter Signed about the first American Presentations of Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra

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[Strauss, Richard. (1864–1949)] Hammerstein, Oscar (I). (1847-1919). Autograph Letter Signed about the first American Presentations of Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra. An important autograph letter with candid revelations about the business practices of the legendary German-born businessman and theater impresario to the German impresario Norbert Salter. In German. [New York,] October 29, [1908]. 3 pp. on recto pages of three sheets of Manhattan Opera House stationery. All three leaves punched for binding, else fine. Translated in full: 

"Well, Mr. Salter – During my sojourn in Berlin I promised you preferred treatment in my business affairs. The opportunity has arrived; listen.  I purchased the rights to performances of Strauss's Salome in America. That was last April. Adolph Fuerstner, who unfortunately has died since, and Richard Strauss himself concluded the agreement. I was promised that I would be the only one who would revive Salome after the fiasco at the Metropolitan Opera House here, [and] that I would receive the right to the first performance of Strauss's new opera Elektra once it would become commercially available. Yesterday I received a letter from Mr. [Otto] Fuerstner, with an invoice about 43.80 marks for expenses, shipping [?], etc. for the Salome performing materials and also the pledge that once the company (Fuerstner) would be in the position to negotiate with me about Elektra, I would be notified of it. This message is lackluster; even foul – I don't want to sin. I know that the direction of the Metropolitan Opera House is also in negotiations with the British because of Elektra. Mr. Dippel proposed me today that we should make a deal about this opera and not extend any offers to Strauss until he would be ready to accept a low price and in this case, we should share the opera in performance, the Met in German and I in French. This is completely out of question for me. Either I have the exclusive performing rights, or I have no rights at all. Now to the point. Enclosed you find a money order of 43.80 marks for Adolph Fuerstner to pay for the Salome expenses. You will also find a letter to Fuerstner in which I recommend you as my representative. You take these to Fuerstner. You see to it that they like you; that is second nature to you. Then you become a pest. You will not let go until you get Elektra for me. Once you have achieved something definitive, send me a telegram, all at my expense. For Salome alone I shall pay Strauss and Fuerstner 500 dollars per performance. Ten performances shall be guaranteed for the season. I shall have the right to renew the agreement at the same terms and conditions every year.  If I can achieve the same terms and conditions for Elektra, I will be ready to pay more if it must be. With Elektra, I want to give poison to the Met. Done. I do not have to write anything else to a man like you, who is determined and diplomatic. Yours truly Oscar Hammerstein"

The passion for opera of the German-born businessman, theater impresario, and composer Oscar Hammerstein led him to open several opera houses, including the Manhattan Opera Company, and he rekindled opera's popularity in America. He was the grandfather of American playwright/lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II and the father of theater manager William Hammerstein and American producer Arthur Hammerstein.  The Manhattan Opera Company was based in New York City and active from 1906 until 1910.  Norbert Salter (1868-1935), born in Hamburg and later active in Berlin, was a cellist turned music manager. Adolph Fürstner (1833-1908) and his son Otto Fürstner (1886-1958) published Strauss's operas from Feuersnot (1901) to Arabella (1933); as the Fürstners were Jewish, Strauss was no longer allowed to collaborate with their company thereafter. Andreas Dippel (1866-1932), German-born tenor, was manager of the Met jointly with Giulio Gatti-Casazza from 1908 to 1910. 

"No opera premiere in Met history has created a scandal to equal the one that greeted Richard Strauss’s Salome on January 22, 1907, the "fiasco" referenced in the present letter. Terms such as “moral stench,” “degeneracy,” and “operatic offal” filled news accounts of the Salome premiere and five days after the premiere, a board resolution sent to Heinrich Conried, the Met’s general manager from 1903 to 1908, advised him that Salome was “objectionable, and detrimental to the best interests of the Metropolitan Opera House.” Some negotiations followed, but, in the end, performances of Salome were banned from the Met. For the next 27 years, Salome remained in exile from the Met, though Hammerstein's (and Salter's) efforts to obtain the performing rights for both Salome and Elektra were successful and both operas were performed at the Manhattan Opera House in 1909. Salome was performed in French, with soprano Mary Garden, who specialized in playing seductresses, in the lead role.



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